Fire RedLeaf Green
by Explodus
Summary: This is, basically, a fanfic based on FrLg. However, it can be used as a walkthrough. If you want a good read, or are bored with the game and want to follow the adventures of someone sles characters, come in and start reading.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Red had been waiting a long time now for this day. The day when he could take his first Pokemon and go out to prove himself. His dad had set out before him, but had apparently failed miserably and quit, going into hiding from the shame and humiliation that his hometown of Pallet would put on him. The town where Red was going start his journey from.

He was in his room, at eight thirty in the morning, going over things one last time in his mind. He knew which Pokemon he wanted to take. There was no possible way he could be there late, because he was already awake. He had a good feeling that the first, and considered by most to be the hardest part of a young trainers journey, was running smoothly for him.

Half an hour later, he made sure he had all the items he had bought with an allowance of ¥300. This wouldn't have been much, but the Poke Mart was having a very special sale on. For the new trainers only. He had a few potions and Poke balls, both invaluable items for a trainer. He was finally ready now to go and receive his Pokemon.

Instead of walking, Red took his bike to Professor Oak's laboratory, to make absolutely sure they would be there first ones there. Despite his efforts, Red arrives at the same time as Green, an arrogant kid who he hated with a passion. Green would always taunt Red at school for not being as knowledgeable about Pokemon as he was, always commenting that he was the best out of the two.

"Well, well, well! Look who it is. Red. How nice of you to show up to say your goodbyes before I go off and become a success. Loser." Green sneered at Red.

"Shut up you idiot. You know as well as anyone that I'm getting my first Pokemon today too." Red replied.

Green was about to reply when the door in front of the two boys swung open. The two boys entered, as more and more local people began to cluster round outside.

When inside the lab, the two boys saw many bookshelves full of books and newspaper clippings about Pokemon. This was almost heaven for Green. All this information and knowledge to absorb. Red, however, saw them as boring stains of ink on paper he didn't want, or need, to read. Reds mind had started to wander, but he remembered that Professor Oak was talking to them, so he started to listen again.

"In this world, as you two obviously know, there are creatures known as Pokemon. Now, when I was younger, I took an oath to complete a great work of literature. An encyclopaedia full of statistics and information on every Pokemon. Now, of course, this was too much for me to do alone. I captured about fifty or so in my prime, and so, every year since I officially retired, I have sent out some young people with a love of Pokemon from the town I was living in. I have picked you two boys this year." Oak explained to them. "You cant complete this task without first receiving a Pokemon to help you catch others. This is why you're here today. To pick from one of three Pokemon that I believe are suitable for beginners."

With that, the Professor took three Poke Balls from a shelf and placed them in front of the boys on a table. He went into some detail of the three Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander. Red had known from the first time he saw the list of Pokemon oak was giving out in the newspaper, that he wanted a Bulbasaur. When given the choice, Red shouted out quickly, "Bulbasaur is mine!"

Green replied with, "Fine. Take that useless thing. It can't do anything. I'm going to take Charmander. When it evolves, it will become a Charizard. Charizard isn't only a strong battler. It can also fly which will make travelling a lot easier. See? I'm always one step ahead Red, and I always will be."

"FINE THEN! LETS BATTLE!" Red shouted at his arrogant Rival.

"That's ok with me. Professor, do you have a battle area we can use?" green asked.

"I have space out the back. We can go there. That way we won't cause any damage to the town." Oak replied.

As the boys went to the battle area, Oak went outside and told the locals to come through and watch. Everyone wanted to see how well the boys could handle they're first battle. The two stood opposite each other. Charmander and Bulbasaur also stood eyeing one another, trying to psyche the other one out. The audience grew tense with excitement and anticipation.

Before the match began, Oak announced, "I will referee this match. Each participant shall use ONE Pokemon. The first to knock the opponents Pokemon out, or forces their opponent to forfeit, is the winner. This battle will have no time limit. BEGIN!"

Red knew that his Bulbasaur was still very young and curious, and didn't know any moves apart from very basic tackles yet. But he also knew it was the very same for Green. He saw this as more of an opportunity to get used to his Bulbasaur and learn more about how it reacts to a situation than as a chance to win a meaningless battle.

Green, however, thought of this as an opportunity to test his tactical abilities and strategy. He wanted to become an expert on this type of thing. He really didn't care about capturing every Pokemon to update a book for the public to see. It was his dream to learn about every Pokemon, but keep that data to himself, so that h could win every match in a perfect link of moves. No one would be able to stop him.

Reds ambitions were much more simple. He wanted to catch any Pokemon he saw that he liked, or that he thought would be helpful and friendly, and go on to win in a battle with the Pokemon Champion, Lance. He wanted to bring out the best in the few Pokemon he WOULD capture, not capture hundreds of monsters he couldn't give attention and care to. They were better living their lives in the wild.

As the bell rang, Red told his Bulbasaur to charge in and tackle. Green however ordered his Charmander to growl. This threw Bulbasaur off course, and resulted in a weak attack that did no damage to Charmander. Now that it was in close, Green ordered a scratch attack. It was powerful, very powerful. It knocked Bulbasaur to the ground. It quickly got back however and hit directly with a surprise tackle from behind. The two Pokemon faced each other again, ready for round two. This time, they both charged in headfirst. Charmander tried to scratch, but Bulbasaur jumped over it, bouncing on the small lizards head as it went, throwing itself higher. It flipped in mid air, and came directly down on the Charmander, pinning it to the ground. It growled into its face, intimidating it and lowering its fighting spirit and strength. Charmander scratched the small plant-like dinosaur on its face to get it off, but got a tackle in return.

The two were learning a lot from their first battle. Bulbasaur had already learned to be more cautious, and listen to its trainer more. Red had been trying to tell it something, but it wouldn't listen. It kept one eye on Charmander, and slowly turned its body till it was almost looking at Red. Red said it was being too reckless, and shouldn't go for head on attacks like that. Bulbasaur nodded.

Out of the two Pokemon, it looked like Bulbasaur was hurting the most. Charmander was just better suited to attacking. Red didn't know much, but he knew from research he had done on Bulbasaur after he realised he would choose it, that it was better suited to long, drawn-out matches where it could use its leech seed and poisonous powders too sap the enemy of strength. Because Red's Bulbasaur was so young, it didn't know how to fire a leech seed, and it didn't have enough pollen or sunlight stored in its bud to use moves like sleep powder and solar beam. Despite this, Red told it to hang on and wait for the Charmander to make a mistake, then counter it.

Charmander charged in and went for a flurry of scratches. Many of them connected, but near the end o its attack, Charmander fumbled and lost its footing. Bulbasaur hit it hard, knocking it over. It then continued to tackle it while it was on the ground. Charmander rolled across the ground, constantly being hit by the tackle attacks. It was building up anger now. It caught Bulbasaur's legs and flipped over in a backwards roll, taking the small dino with it. It threw it up in the air, and waited for it to fall back down before delivering a tide turning scratch. It caught Bulbasaur's face with its claws and brought it straight down into the hard ground.

Red could see that Bulbasaur couldn't last long. He began thinking about forfeiting . He didn't want to let his rivalry destroy Bulbasaur's trust in him. It was the wrong thing to do to let this battle continue.

"Charmander, FINISH THIS WEAKLING!" Green commanded. Charmander charged in for a final attack.

At the last minute, Red ran over and grabbed his exhausted Bulbasaur and jumped out of the attack's way. "STOP!" Red cried out. "Bulbasaur's had enough. I cant let it battle anymore. It's proved to me that it's a strong-minded Pokemon that can handle itself in battle. I forfeit."

"Humph! Figures. I knew you wouldn't be able to beat me. Wimp. Well, I've proven myself here. I'm leaving." Green said as he went back into the lab.

"Wait! I have to give you your Pokedex!" Oak shouted after him.

"Forget it. I'm not doing all that work for you. That will just take my focus away from being the best battler I can be. Later." Green called back.

The town's people started clapping as Red went back inside. "Well done Red! You did the right thing!" They shouted.

http/img318.imageshack.us/img318/5986/chapter1pic9ji.png Click this for a pic. Credit to bgh2, Mewto man, and koopaul, who igot Red, Oak, and the two Pokemon sprites for. Thanks.

http/img318.imageshack.us/img318/5986/chapter1pic9ji.png CLick for a pic. Credit to bgh2, koopaul, and mewtwo man. It was from their sheets that I got the Oak, Red and pokemon sprites. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"They ARE right Red. Knowing your own Pokemon's abilities and limits, and when battles are lost, is a key to becoming a good trainer. Bulbasaur could have been seriously hurt in that battle, if it wasn't for you." Oak explained to Red.

"Heh. Yeah I know. I don't really mind losing. Its just the fact that he gloats so much about it." Red replied.

"Well anyway" Oak continued, "I have to give you your Pokedex so that you can update it for m-"

"Um…about that…." Red interrupted. " I really don't want to take hundreds of pokemon out of the wild, when I can only give enough care and attention to so many. I plan to only catch a few Pokemon who I really like, or who impress me. I'm sorry, but I really can't accept this task. It's too much. Plus, I don't really think I need to know everything about every pokemon. It's the mystery that I like about it. Sorry Professor."

"Oh…well…I suppose it really IS your choice. This has happened to me before. If you are one of these people who's goal is to become the best trainer you can, you should really take the Gym Leader challenge. It will test your abilities as a trainer more than anything. Also, at least that way you will be doing something for Pallet Town. Imagine: a champion of the Pokemon League, from Pallet Town. It would put our name on the map. As well as mine for giving you your first pokemon." Oak said in a dreamy tone of voice.

"Yeah! That's more like it! That's exactly the kind of thing I would want to do. To prove myself." Red replied.

"Well then its settled. Red, I'm going to sign you up for the Gym Leader challenge. Congratulations." Oak told the young boy.

"YES! Thank you so much Professor! I think I'm gonna head home now to let Bulbasaur rest and try to get to know it a bit better. Ill set out tomorrow. Ill probably get to Viridian city pretty soon, if I don't get held up. There's a gym there right?" Red asked.

"I'm pretty sure there is Red, yes. Anyway, Ill talk to you on the phone when you get to the viridian city Poke Centre. And here. Take the Pokedex anyway. It may come in handy. It has data on most of the common Pokemon and could give you vital information." He said, while handing Red the small, red, digital book. "Good luck."

"Thanks" he replied, and ran out of the lab.

Whilst making his way back home, Red released his Bulbasaur. At first it was quite timid and nervous around Red. It remembered everything he had done for it in the battle, but was still a tiny bit afraid of humans, because he was so young. Red occasionally stopped and tried to talk to the small plant-like creature, or pet it on the head, or wait fir it to walk over to him in curiosity. This failed miserably, since every time he stopped, the Bulbasaur would run into some grass and cower. Red started to realise that it was acting much differently than it did in battle. Maybe Red forfeited too late, and it had already terrified the young creature. Whatever was wrong with it, Red decided it would be better off in its Poke Ball, where it would be able to calm down a bit.

When he got home about half an hour later, Red's mother welcomed him. He went over and talked to her. She asked him where his Pokemon was, and was desperate to see it. Red told her that it was a bit shy and scared to be round humans, but let it out of its ball anyway. As soon as its feet touched the floor, it ran to the corner of the room, and lay down with its feet covering its face.

"Its not that its scared Red, its exhausted. A Pokemon that has had a hard battle becomes very tired, and when it does it becomes more aware of its surroundings. And injured or tired Pokemon can be very dangerous to approach, because they are more ready to defend themselves." Red's mother told him. "I know what we should do. Ill make a bed for it with some old clothes, and leave it in peace for the night. It should be fine in the morning."

"Yeah, ok" Red replied. He was starting to get tired himself, and needed all his energy for tomorrow. He slowly approached Bulbasaur and picked it up. It started to flail about, but Red ignored it. He carried it to his room, and made a small pile of his old, worn out clothes. He put Bulbasaur down on the floor, and let it examine the room first. Red then went to his bed, and let Bulbasaur discover its own bed alone.

In the morning, Red woke up and saw his bedroom door open. He went through to the kitchen, and on the floor his Bulbasaur was eating Pokemon dry food out of a small dish. Red noticed straight away it was much more comfortable with him, and its surroundings. Red put down some water for it, and made his own breakfast. His mother must have already made her way to Professor Oak's lab. Where the whole town was going to watch the trainers leave. Once both he and his Bulbasaur had finished eating, Red got ready, and headed for the lab. Bulbasaur was skipping and jumping now, energetic in its youth, smelling the flowers and trees, all the while absorbing the sunlight into the bud on its back. Red was still trying to think of a name for his little buddy, when it hit him. Bud. Red was kind of embarrassed that he had been able to make a decent name out of a stupid pun, but it worked well.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried out. Bulbasaur came running out from the grass and sat down in front of him, tipping his head to the side in curiosity. "From now on, I think I'm gonna call you Bud. Like it?"

"Bulbasaur! Bulba bulba saur!" Bud replied.

"Great. I bet we're getting along much better than Green and his Charmander. I doubt he even let it rest after the battle. Not that it needed it of course…" Red said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Bulbasaur replied, but Red could only hear, "Saur, bulba saur saur!"

When he finally got to the lab, Red saw the huge crowd of people. Oak called him over, and he pushed his way through the crowd. They all wanted to look at and pet Bud, and it was quite happy to oblige. Now that it was healthy again, it loved the attention it was getting. Red walked up to Oak and asked sarcastically, "Where's Green? Shouldn't they all be waiting for him and saying how amazing he is?"

"Oh no" Oak replied. "Green left as soon as the battle ended. He didn't want to waste time in starting his journey.

"What an idiot. His Charmander must have been exhausted. Despite winning, we gave it some decent hits during that match." Red said.

"Well anyway, you're the only reason people came out here, we might as well start." Oak told him

"Heh. Looks like Bud's more popular with the crowd though" Red said jokingly.

"Ah yes. I see your Bulbasaur is looking much better. You decided to give it a name the? Bud? That's a fairly decent name for a pun." Oak said.

"Damn it! I thought people wouldn't realise. Oh well. Its still a nice name." Red replied, starting to laugh.

"Well, go get Bud, and Ill gather everyone round." Oak told him.

As Oak calmed the crowd down, Red walked over and told Bud that they were heading out now. Bulbasaur jumped up in excitement, and faithfully followed its trainer over to Professor Oak.

"Ok people! We all know why we came out here today." Oak announced. "Red is about to head to Route 1, the road out of Pallet Town on his first step to become a Pokemon trainer. You all know that he did in fact lose his first battle, but he did so in the best interests of his Pokemon, Bulbasaur, who he has decided to name Bud."

"WE LOVE YOU BUD!" someone from the crowd shouted.

Red was starting to realise they were giving much more attention to Bud than they were to him.

Oak continued, "Now, we will all wish Red good luck on his journey, and hope that he puts our small town's name on the map. His first destination is Viridian city, which I'm sure most have you have visited to go to the Mart there. There, Red hopes to battle the first Gym leader. Now Red, with all that said, I think it's time you should be heading off."

"Ok Professor. I'll see ya round everyone!" Red shouted.

"Goodbye…Bud!" the crowd shouted.

"Dammit!" Red replied, and ran off, Bud behind him to Route 1.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Red stepped foot on Route 1, not for the first time. He had been here once before, in his childhood. He remembered the whole town came out here for a picnic once. He wandered off into the grass, and was attacked. Two Spearow and a Rattata had approached him, and started pecking at him and scratching him. He was terrified until, for some reason, he saw a flash of light and the two Pokemon ran away, injured. He saw a small creature with a strange shaped tail run towards the bushes. Ever since that day, he'd been scared to come here, but now he felt much safer because Bud was by his side.

He pushed on through the route fairly quickly. At every opportunity, he would stop and battle with some of the wild Pokemon in the area. He noticed that there were no longer any Spearow here. There were pretty much only Rattata and Pidgey. He would have to catch a Pidgey, he thought to himself. Then he realised, he had no Poke balls yet. He couldn't catch ANY Pokemon without some of those. He hurried even more. After a few hours, he had made it to Viridian city.

He headed straight to the Viridian City Pokemon centre. It was a small building near the centre of town with a red roof, and a sign saying "Viridian City Pokemon Centre."

Red went in and asked the nurse there to nurse his Bulbasaur back to health.

"My,my!" the nurse said. "This Bulbasaur looks as though it has been through a lot of battles."

"Hehehe…" Red replied. "I just started out in the Gym leader challenge. I travelled here from Pallet town. We ran into a few Pokemon on route, and we had no choice but to battle. I ran out of Potions too."

"Well, while I restore this Bulbasaur's energy levels, I want you to head over to the Poke mart across the street over there and buy some more medicine" the nurse told him.

"Yeah, ok. Good idea. Ill be right back then." Red agreed.

Red went out of the centre and headed over to the Poke mart. When he entered, the shopkeeper yelled to him. "Hey, kid! Yeah you! Professor oak just called. He said he forgot about this till now. He has a package waiting for him here, but wondered if you could take it back for him instead. He said that unless you deliver it, I shouldn't sell anything to you."

"Did he hell." Red replied with a sceptical look on his face.

"Yeah ok, I made that last part up, but I'm busy kid. I'm watching my favourite show in the back. You go on ahead and deliver it." The shopkeeper replied, throwing the parcel at Red. With that he ran to the back part of the store.

"Aw man…" Red said to no one.

He ran back to the centre, and phoned Professor Oak. "Hey Professor. Thanks a lot. Now I have to go all the way back to pallet with this stupid parcel. Great."

"Hehe….yeah. I'm sorry, I just clean forgot. Come back, and I'll give you five free Poke Balls in return" Oak told Red.

"Wow. That saves a lot of valuable money from the budget I set myself. More to spend on Potions" Red said.

After some more small talk, Red hang up and asked if Bud was ok now. The nurse told him he was and gave him back his Poke ball. He released Bud, and placed the, actually rather small package, on his back, held in place by his seed. Bud and Red began the trip all the way back to Pallet, avoiding any battles that came their way, and running from the ones that they couldn't.

By the time they got back to Pallet, it was getting dark. They entered Professor Oak's lab, and saw him sitting at the desk with papers in front of him. Red said they had brought the parcel.

"Ah, excellent Red. This is the custom Poke ball I had ordered a while ago. I'm still testing it, but it will soon be able to catch any Pokemon without fail" Oak exclaimed.

"Um, yeah that's great. Now, the matter of my reward…"

"Red, patience my young lad. As I promised, here are five Poke balls." Oak said, handing him the red and white spherical objects.

"Thanks" Red said.

Red ran back on to Route 1. By this point it was pitch black, and he was getting tired. Pidgey and Rattata were uncommon at night times, and the rain that was starting didn't help any. He gave up on his search for a Pidgey, and headed to Viridian City once more. He went straight to the mart, determined to buy Potion, but it had already closed. Tired and irritable, he walked back to the Pokemon Centre, and entered to get out of the rain.

Inside, he got a room and released Bud from his Poke Ball. He told Bud about how he had been attacked and a strange little creature had saved him. Bud was fascinated at this story. He sat and listened intently, finding some parts funny, and being terrified at others. Red couldn't expect anything less from one so young. He realised he would have to catch some new additions to his team in the morning. After making sure Bud was ok, he went to sleep.

In the morning, Red woke up and went through to the main dining area of the centre and had his breakfast. He then took Bud through to the Pokemon feeding area. There it met a Rattata, a Mankey, and someone's Weedle and Caterpie. They seemed to get along well, and Red was pleased to see his Bulbasaur communicating with others, and not shying away. While Bud ate, Red went and got changed. When they were both ready Red went to the Mart and bought 3 Potions and a few more Poke Balls.

He headed to the Gym, but on the gnarled, weathered oak door was a sign which read, "GYM ABANDONED. FAULTY WORKMANSHIP MEANS THIS BUILDING IS NOT SAFE. PLEASE KEEP OUT."

Red was shocked by this news. He went and asked some of the local people, who told him that the Gym leader abandoned the gym years ago. Red wondered how the hell Professor Oak had forgotten this. He didn't want to go back to the Pokemon Centre to phone Oak, it would take far too long. He vaguely remembered a map in the Centre, and that he should head north. He headed out straight to Viridian forest to the North, because there was nothing of interest to him to the West on Route 22. As he passed, headed for the forest, a kindly old man saw that he had Poke Balls at his waist.

"Err, excuse me young man, but I see that you are a Pokemon trainer. Well, I'd like to help you in any way I can, so I'm gonna show you some techniques I invented for catching Pokemon." He said.

He took a Poke ball from his belt, and showed Red some good stances and throwing styles that ensured a better Poke ball throw, and how to get a good aim at the Pokemon.

Having received this wise mans teachings and knowledge, Red pushed on. He soon arrived at the entrance to Viridian Forest, north of Viridian City. He entered the forest and was stunned by the view. Long grass, trees, and crawling with Pokemon. Red began his search for wild creatures, but found none that he really wanted to capture.

He didn't want a Caterpie or a Weedle, because he had never really liked bugs that much. Everything else wasn't really worth his time.

But then, he heard a buzzing sound. Suddenly, he realised he had walked into an

enclosed area. There were trees on every side. He started to feel like something was watching him. The buzzing got louder and louder, moving closer to him through the trees. Then, a MASSIVE group of Beedrill swarmed out from behind the cover of the foliage. Red was trapped. He couldn't see a way out. At the last second he noticed a small stump sticking out from the ground, with enough space underneath for him to hide under. He ran as fast as he could and dived under the stump. The Beedrill raced over-head, moving from tree to tree, taking honey and sap from their bark. A small group approached the stump, jabbing at it with their Twin needles. Red had no idea what he should do. He couldn't let out Bud and try to fight his way out. They were outnumbered by far too many for that. His only option was to lay low and hope that they didn't notice him. That plan, however, didn't exactly work when his bag tipped open and spilled about 70 pieces of Pokemon food on to the ground beside him. In seconds, hundreds of Beedrill raced towards him at top speed. The first one there scooped down to pick up the food, but at the same time saw Red. NOW he was in trouble. All bud knew how to do was Tackle and Growl. There was no way it could match these strong fighters. Not to mention the fact they could fly.

Red tried to get out from under his stump, but he was trapped. A Beedrill, possibly the leader of the swarm, had blocked the entrance and was swiping at Red with its stinger. Red thought he was dead, until he saw a familiar flash of white light. The Beedrill blocking the entrance turned, and was shocked at what it saw. A tiny, strange looking creature was defeating the whole swarm in a battle. It raced to rally its troops, letting Red escape from his shelter-turned prison. When he stood up, he too saw this strange little thing attacking the swarm with no fear. The creature ran towards them, then stopped and turned. It put its arms out, as if trying to tell the swarm not to touch them. The Beedrill took no notice of this and charged at them anyway. At the sight of this, the small, yellow, rodent-like creature leaped forward, and stretched out in mid air as it let out massive charges of energy. Every Beedrill either fled scared, or was knocked out. The creature did a flip in the air and fell back to the ground, landing comfortably on its feet. Red was amazed at this.

The little rodent turned and looked at them, and gestured as if it wanted them to follow it. It seemed friendly enough, and knew the forest better than him, so Red obliged. He ran after it, until it eventually brought him to a small clearing in the woods. At this point, Red fell to his knees in a mixture of exhaustion, confusion and shock. He then remembered the small helpful creature that had saved their lives. He thanked it greatly, and offered it some of the little Pokemon food he had left. While it gnawed away at the chewy dry food, Red managed to take out his Pokedex and get information on it.

"Pikachu. This small electrical rodent is, surprisingly, found mainly in forest environments. When large groups of these Pokemon gather, they have the potential to create thunderstorms. If you touch its tail and startle it, it will either bite you, or shock you. Very hard to get along with and difficult for new trainers." The voice of the Pokedex stated.

"Hm…" Red thought to himself. "Difficult for new trainers. Well, I always did enjoy a challenge. And it was very impressive during that battle. Plus, it is unbelievably cute. Although looks can be deceiving…Oh well! Its worth a try!"

Red decided he wouldn't just go ahead and take it from its home in a Poke ball. He would try to win its trust first. He let out Bud and let the two get acquainted. Pikachu, after a few minutes of communicating with Bud, walked over to Red, sat down in front of him, and started scratching at it's ear. Red leaned down and looked at it, and saw that it had a small cut. He used one of his newly bought potions, which Pikachu took, but in slight pain. It was at this point that Red realised something. He had seen this little face before. He also remembered that familiar flash in the enclosed area. This wasn't just a Pikachu. This was the very same Pikachu that had saved his life four years before. Having realised this, a smile broke across Red's face. He leaped forward and picked the Pikachu up, supporting it under its arms. Then he remembered what he was doing and closed his eyes, expecting an agonising jolt of electricity. However, when he reopened his eyes, he saw Pikachu's face smiling and laughing back at him, happy to be held by Red. It ran up his arm and onto his shoulder, sniffing at his face and his hat. Then it clambered down his side, to the holder of his Poke balls. It sniffed curiously at them, and pawed at one of the buttons, wondering what would happen. To Red and Bud's surprise, the ball opened, and shot a white light at the Pikachu. It had actually caught itself in one of Red's Poke balls, and didn't look as though it was putting up much of a fight against being captured. It looked as though it actually wanted to come with Red.

When the ball stopped moving, Red couldn't believe his luck. He had caught one of the rarer kinds of Pokemon that were found in the forest, and without even having to battle it. Although having said that, he did have history with the Pikachu. Maybe that's why it decided to come with him. Who knows? All Red cared about was the fact that he now had two amazing and loyal Pokemon to help him become the best he could be. He hadn't felt this excited since two days before, when he saw Bud for the first time. He decided that he would name his new team-mate "Chuu". He thought this was a very fitting name for such a bright, happy little creature.

Red remembered that, although he had just caught a new Pokemon and it was a time for celebration, he DID come here for a reason. To get some battling experience in, and to make his way o the next Gym. He really wanted to stay and laze around a bit, but really wanted to get out of the forest before nightfall. And so, he pushed on further, deeper into the forest, with his new companion, and Bud by his side.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Red had finally made it out of Viridian Forest, after being attacked by the swarm of Beedrill. He was relieved to finally make it out of that horrible place. He could now see a straightforward Route north to Pewter City, and his first badge. The Route only took about a quarter of an hour to navigate. When he got to Pewter City however, he was very under whelmed by what he saw. A bleak, grey town full of boring and unexciting buildings.

At the top of a hill to the north, he could see a large, old-fashioned structure with pillars and steps. The museum. Red walked up towards the building, taking in the slightly gloomy and depressing view as he went. On his left, the Pokemon Centre and Pewter City Gym, on his right, the mart. He entered the museum and paid the fee. Inside, he saw many exhibits on prehistoric Pokemon. In one stall, pictures of fossils and rocks laid neatly in a line. In another much larger part of the museum, a replica of an Aerodactyl fossil.

Red began to find this boring. So boring in fact, that he left. He headed out of the door, and to the Centre. He rested there for a while, letting Bud and Chuu rest. When he and his two companions were ready, they left and headed over to the Pewter City Gym.

Outside, there was a fairly large crowd that had come to see the day's gym battles. There were many new trainers who were just starting at this, the second gym of eight, since the Viridian Gym was closed. Amongst the crowd, Red could see a few of these trainers tending to the injuries of their Pokemon. One Rattata had an injured leg, a Pidgey an injured wing, and a Butterfree had been knocked out cold. No one so far was able to beat the leader, but Red was determined to be the first.

He approached the crowd and asked one of the people there what had happened so far. The stranger told him that today, Brock, the gym leader, had defeated every challenger with only his Geodude. At hearing this, Red was taken back with surprise.

"He beat EVERY challenger with one Pokemon?" Red asked, astounded. "Wow. He must be good…. maybe too good…but, I have to try anyway. How do I sign up to face him?"

"Um, there's a sign up sheet over there" the man said, pointing towards a small oak table by the entrance to the gym. "Put your name down. Every five minutes they take the clipboard in and choose three random names from the list. If your name isn't called, you try again. Eventually, everyone is let in. They try not to keep you waiting."

"Um…ok. Thanks a lot" Red replied politely.

Red walked over to the table, signed his name, then went over to sit on a bench with some other trainers who were all waiting to be let in. Red spoke to some of them, and the responses were all very similar. "I've been trying for two days, every time I DO get in, I lose. You don't stand a chance." This made Red slightly anxious, but he remained confident that he could win.

After hearing an abnormally loud bang, then a scream, a trainer fumbled out of the Gym and ran towards the Pokemon Centre. ""Next!" the voice of someone inside, presumably the leader, shouted. A man in a black suit walked through the door, holding the clipboard Red had signed his name on. "Ok, next up I think we will have…Ryan, Dan and… Red. Ok, hurry up people, inside now!"

Red was amazed that he had only had to wait for twenty-five minutes. He knew this was his first chance to prove himself. He entered the gym with the two other trainers chosen at the same time as him. All three of them were amazed by the inside, rocks and boulders and cliffs stretching to the ceiling. They looked around, astounded by these great formations, when a voice came from nearby, telling them he was the Gym Leader.

"I am Brock," the voice announced. "and I am the Pewter City Gym leader. I specialise in training rock types, and fight to the extreme defensive. You are here today to try and take from me the Boulder badge, an official Pokemon League badge, which will grant you access to areas of the Elite 4's Indigo Plateau. To take this badge from me, you must defeat me in battle, thus proving your worth. We will fight with two Pokemon each. If you use any more than two, you will not receive the badge. First up, is Dan."

Dan, one of the other trainers, stepped up to the battlefield. Red and Ryan went over to the sidelines and watched intently, to see weaknesses in Brocks battling style. Red knew paying attention now would be vital to victory. Dan sent out his Pidgey, Brock his Geodude. The Geodude tackled Pidgey, instantly knocking it out. Next, Dan sent out his Butterfree. Geodude grabbed one of the rocks on the arena floor and hurled it towards the butterfly. Another instant KO.

"Pfft. You are pathetic. Get the hell out of my gym and don't bother coming back until you improve." Brock said coldly to the young trainer, as Dan ran out of the Gym.

"Who is the next pathetic weakling to challenge me? Ryan?" Brock asked with a smirk on his face.

"Um…" replied Ryan. "Ya see…the thing is…um…what had happened was…..you…um…I don't…ARGH!" Ryan fumbled out, turning and sprinting out of the door, fearing for his life.

"Um…hey kid, come back…I wasn't going to hurt…AH WELL!" Red, that means you're up next. I hope you'll prove more of a challenge than these fools." Brock said, trying not to laugh about what had happened.

"Um…oh crap." Red replied, now knowing the odds were definitely against him.

Red approached the arena box where he stood nervously. This was it. This was his first badge battle. He only had two Pokemon, so it wasn't the hardest of choices to decide who would battle for him. Brock liked Rock and Ground Pokemon, which meant he had the advantage with bud, but if it ever came to Bud getting knocked out, Chuu wouldn't stand a chance.

Brock started off by sending out his trusty Geodude. Red decided to start strong and sent out Bud. Bud and Geodude eyed each other, staring in total concentration. Red ordered a tackle, as did Brock. Both Pokemon charged at each other head on.

Geodude's rock-hard body gave it an obvious advantage, and its sheer weight threw Bud straight across the arena. Bud got up again, startled by the power of Geodude. It was at this point red remembered they weren't at an advantage at all. The only Grass type attack Bud could perform so far was Leech Seed. So it basically had to stall Geodude out, or lose. "Oh crap." Red repeated.

"Use our leech Seed Bud! It's the best we've got for now." Red commanded.

Upon hearing this, Bud shot out three seeds from the bulb on it's back. They released a series of vines and entangled the foe. Since Geodude had no legs, it was still fully mobile. These seeds constantly sap energy from the foe, and thrive on Pokemon like Geodude, who are part ground type. Geodude, now becoming tired from the constant energy loss, began to slow down a bit. It was less responsive to its trainer, and couldn't battle as well as normal. This was a VERY good sign for Red.

"Bud, tackling it hurts you more than it, just let the seeds do their work and wait him out. Keep on the move, and keep away from him!" Red told Bud. Bud, seeing how effective this strategy would be, agreed that this was the best course of action.

Bud began to dodge and jump around the arena, making him a very difficult target to hit with rocks and tackles. Geodude, however, managed to get lucky while throwing a rock. It hit Bud dead on, knocking it over. Bud screamed in pain, but managed to scramble to its feet. At this point Geodude slammed into Bud with a powerful tackle. Red wondered where it was getting all this energy from after having all of its energy drained. Then he noticed, Geodude had gotten out of the Leech Seed. It must've some how escaped and was no longer having its energy drained.

"Ok, this is bad, but it's not the end of the world." Red thought. "The seeds did their job, and the damage had already been done. It was just a case now of finishing Geodude off."

Geodude, however, had different plans. It pulled a massive boulder from the ground, using its strength to keep it aloft. It hurled the boulder up in the air with a massive rock throw attack, and completely nailed Bud with it. This delivered massive damage to Bud. He was now possibly even weaker than Geodude. In an instant, the battle had totally turned around, and was now in Brock's favour.

Bud, lying in rubble and debris from the rock, which had smashed into pieces on impact, was totally out of it. He had no idea where he was or what was going on. Then, suddenly, he heard Red calling to it. "Bud, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Bud looked up and saw Geodude charging towards it at full speed in an almost kamikaze style tackle attack. Bud knew himself he couldn't dodge it, and so, he had to improvise. At the last second before the tackle hit, Bud let out a long vine from its back, and whipped Geodude on the side of the head with it. Geodude's momentum made it fly meters in the opposite direction, and thus, out of the arena.

"NO" Brock shouted. "It landed out of the arena! That counts as a KO. Damn you kid. You got lucky. You may have defeated Geodude, but you will NEVER defeat my strongest Pokemon. GO…ONIX!"

Brock threw a Poke Ball into the arena and from it emerged the shape of a massive serpent-like Golem. It was totally made of rock and was MASSIVE. It must have been at least thirty-five feet in length. It towered over Bud, staring at him menacingly with evil eyes. It let out a bellowing roar, and slammed its tail on the ground, as if waiting for them to make a move first.

"Oh…CRAP!" Red repeated for the third time. "Aw come on! Gimme a damn break! I just beat Geodude by the skin of my teeth, and now you want me to beat THAT thing? This is over already…darn it."

Bud, not overly impressed with his trainer's lack of confidence, gulped. This would be a VERY tough battle to win. The odds of them leaving victorious were impossible at best.

"Bulba, saur…" Bud said quietly.


End file.
